Gryffindor Graham

So - another major power breakdown in Ukraine due to Putler’s terrorism. This time, it affects also Moldova - most of MD is w/o electricity. Trying to teach my kid what it means to be without power, heating and water - we have it for maybe a day or so - my UA friends every day. He’s doing well!

It’s Friday, folks!

Chișinău’s streets covered by ice. People walking in the middle of the street - pavements are lethal! First -20, then plus, and now again negative figures have turned the city into a city of ice. Schools are closed - no one can get there anyway. My car slid sideways over our yard, at 3 kph…

I have broken ribs. Several. I have ruptured the ligaments in my knee. Also more than once. I have broken bones in my feet, cracked a wrist… had a heart attack last year - been there. But no pain has been so excruciating as my herniated discs. I can’t even find a position to sleep that doesn’t hurt…

Avgå alla! Nu kommer jag inte tillbaka!

Just survived my first MRI ever. Discovered that the trick was closing your eyes, pretending you were in a ”Finland ferry pod”. The biggest problem was getting up afterwards. Yes - they were scanning my back…

Iran tonight. Worried - though smashing the mullahs would be a generally good thing. Still worried about the Iranian people…

Snow in Moldova. Glühwein at home!

This. Is. Funny!

No supporter of the illegal US action in Venezuela, but you have to laugh (bitterly) when you read Russian reactions: ”You have to free the legitimately elected president of a sovereign country […] Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to shape its future without destructive external interference”

And a very Merry Christmas from Odesa! (Albeit photo being three weeks old)

З Різдвом Христовим!

Odesa, 21 November. 12 hours of air alert. A normal day for all my brave Ukrainian colleagues. I was happy to accompany our partner to the Black Sea. Black, BTW, in Old Slavic languages, means South. And White - North. Hence, Belarus - White Rus - North of the traditional Rus, centred around Kyiv.

The Ukrainian spirit is unbreakable. After 8 hours of constant Shaheed attacks and air alarm, people actually go to the beach for a swim… Слава Україні! 🇺🇦

Today I attended a magical ballet performance - Bohdan Pavlovsky’s Білосніжка і семеро гномів (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) - at the Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre. 30 dancers and an orchestra of 45. Pure magic!

The view from my Odesa hotel. Allegedly (only anecdotal info) many properties in this area are owned by Russians. Hence, no air attacks in this area… right now, I hope I didn’t jinx it, and that we will have a calm night. But if they can pinpoint the Russian properties, I would not complain!

Happy to attend the Moldova Security Forum yesterday with colleague and friend Tim Judah.

Guests from Ukraine and Germany. Plans for wine tasting this evening - a gift for our wedding in June. Son just hospitalised. Change of plans, and lots of worry…

Favoritcitat från Dmitrij Gluchovskij (tyvärr på tyska, då jag inte har Ola Wallins fantastiska översättning tiklgänglig): Je stränger das Regime, desto geringer der Preis.

Skrivet av en vän: www.kyivpost.com/post/60845

🇺🇦 Today, 1 October, Ukraine honours the Day of the Defenders of Ukraine and the holiday of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin. ⠀ We can pray for the brave Ukrainian defenders and also provide them with the means to defend their country! Слава Україні! Разом, до перемоги!

Thank you Moldova!

My father’s wall clock has been standing for years. It worked for a short time after he passed away in 2011, but then has been standing. Recently, my mother realised, it stopped at the hour he passed away. Not moving since. I missed his passing by 15 minutes… You can see the time on the clock…

From a friend of mine: t.co/y9X7uzydFG

Happy Independence Day to the brave Ukrainian nation and to all who stand with it. May your independence be eternal and may your nation prosper and grow!

To all my brave Ukrainian friends (and everyone else working with and for the Ukrainian people) - Happy Flag Day! Proud that Sweden shares its colours with this brave nation!

Little T (with Romanian as his first language) suddenly looks at me and says (in Swedish): ”Papa - your Romanian is very good now”. Yes, T, you will get an extra icecream! 😍

Fun fact about the Greek beaches. All Greeks speak English. The rest speak either Serbian or Romanian. I’m good…

So, 2,500 km later - Chișinău - Uman’ - Poltava - Kharkiv - Poltava - Kyiv - Zhytomyr - Vinnytsia - Chișinău, I am finally back home. A balmy 30 degrees, not like what I experienced on the M21 between Zhytomyr and Vinnytsia. Home, sweet home. And the hugs of a six-year old waiting for me!

I’ve had my driver’s licence for 42 years. I’ve driven in all conditions - and I am grateful to my father, an Army driver during WWII, having grown up in Northern Sweden, for teaching me how to drive on snow and ice. But today, in Ukraine, was one of my most challenging experiences ever. This:

Fin artikel om en av mina favoritförfattare. Tycker dock att de kunde nämnt Ersatz och Ola Wallin och deras gärning för att översätta från ukrainskan. Och de strålande översättarna Sofia Uggla och David Szybek som gör så mycket för att vi ska kunna tillgodogöra oss ukrainsk litteratur!

Back in Poltava after a 500 km day trip to our reconstruction programmes in Kharkivska. Always impressive to see how our local partners work hard, but above all how they meet the ”beneficiaries” at Augenhöhe, as we say in German. Our partners are local people, working with local people. This shows!

This is the furthest East I’ve been in Ukraine since Sieverodonetsk in 2018. And tomorrow, the trip continues. Greetings from Poltava to everyone! Слава Україні!

I have no memory of this place… #Elizabetovca

So… our meeting in Lviv partly took place in shelter. A MiG-31K took off, triggering air alarm in all of Ukraine. This is daily life in Ukraine - us visitors only experience it every now and then. We are praying for a calm night in Western UA - the East is already under attack from Putler’s forces.

Back in UA after a heart attack and a 3 month travel ban. Switch on Air Alert app, switch on usual Telegram channels… everything back to ”normal”, except it’s not. The hits that Ukraine took lately are immense. I feel proud to be back with my Ukrainian colleagues, but I cannot say I’m happy…

I realise, it is a long time ago, that I did any serious singing. When testing a bit today, I have to face the fact that, while I can still hit a high A (or maybe even Bb) with full voice, I have lost more than a fourth in the top register. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it back in the low register.

Totally irrelevant information: I am happy I survived last week, recovering from a heart attack and with my poor wife working 24/7… Then seeing my colleagues suffering from the Russkiy Fascist bombings of Kyiv… can’t be of any support…

Food for thought

Habemus Papam. Nomen nescio…

Looking forward to spending my 60th birthday in a Ukrainian shelter. This will be the third consecutive birthday I celebrate in Ukraine, but the first one on my own. Got a nice bottle of whisky from my boss, though…

Känner en viss medkänsla för Landerholm. Han intervjuade mig för ett jobb, och sa efter intervjun, att han ville ge mig jobbet. Men han kunde inte - för UD hade redan sagt åt honom, vem som skulle få jobbet. Jag hittade en liten annons i Metro och skickade in en ansökan. Oväntat, att någon såg den…

Deleted my X account some time ago. Realise now, that I need access to X, since I get sent a lot of X links for analysis. So, I opened a new ”anonymous” account. Only following one account… just so I can access the links sent to me. The hatred, misinformation coming in my feed is just appalling…

Raspy voice with a Russian accent: “I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse!”

Mycket relevant artikel av Anna-Lena Laurén om vikten av tolkar för att kommunicera "auf Augenhöhe", som vi säger i Tyskland. Det är få förunnat att kunna förhandla på ett språk som inte är modersmål och om du förhandlar med "Muttersprachler" hamnar du direkt i underläge. www.dn.se/varlden/anna...

So, who is planning for WWIII? Make no mistake - we’re already in the middle of it. An American President, who got out of military service by claiming a bone spur, and not having spent one second in a war zone has not earned the right to speak on war.